Glazers set to raise £210m with 10 per cent sale of Manchester United

Manchester United's owners are to sell off 10pc of the club – raising up to £210m.

Manchester United's owners are to sell off 10 per cent of the club – raising up to £210m.

But fears emerged last night that up to half of that cash would NOT be used to pay down the massive debts of more than £400m.

A prospectus submitted to the New York Stock Exchange show that the club itself plans to issue 8,333,334 'class A' shares, worth up to £105m.

The document says United will 'use all of our net proceedings from this offering to reduce our indebtedness'.

But it adds that a further 8,333,333 shares will be sold by the 'selling shareholder' – and NONE of those proceeds will go directly to Manchester United.

That raised fears that the Glazer family, who own the club, intended to keep a large slice of the proceeds of the flotation.

If so, fans will react with fury after it was previously suggested all the cash would be used to pay down the debt.

The prospectus was issued late last night as the Glazers confirmed a notice of intent to press ahead with the sale of the shares.

A spokesman for the club said: "Manchester United is offering 8,333,334 class A ordinary shares and the selling shareholder is offering 8,333,333 cass A ordinary shares.

"The underwriters have an option to purchase up to an additional 2,500,000 class A ordinary shares from the selling shareholder.

"The Class A ordinary shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and will trade under the symbol MANU."

The news came on the day United confirmed a massive new shirt sponsorship deal with US car giant Chevrolet, which takes effect from 2014.

The prospectus reveals that total club revenues in the year to June 30 are expected to be down by as much as 5 per cent, at £315m-£320m.

Much of that is due to a reduction of as much as £15.2m in broadcasting income in the light of United's early exit from the Champions League.

But commercial revenues are UP by 13pc to £117m thanks to new sponsorship deals and a north American promotional tour.

Operating expenses are up by 4pc-5pc, to £283m-£286m as a result of increased wages.

Profit for the year is estimated to be between £21m-£23m.

The documents show that a net £50m was spent on players in the year to June 2012 – and a total of £437m of borrowings remain outstanding.

They also reveal that the company was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on April 30.

The prospectus said that a survey paid for by the club found it had 659m 'followers' worldwide. 'Followers' were defined as people who, unprompted, identified United as their favourite football team, or a team they enjoyed watching or reading about.

It also outlined the club's future commercial strategy – including a 'regional sponsorship model' across the world and an expanded MUTV.

A spokesman for the Manchester United Supporters Trust described the news as a 'slap in the face', adding: "Supporters are going to be very angry about this.

"There is now no doubt that this is bad for Manchester United supporters, Manchester United FC and any investors gullible enough to pay the inflated price they've attached to inferior shares."

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